


Not Okay

by dreamwriteremmy (ehryniewi)



Series: The Common House Tales [52]
Category: No Fandom, Original Work, Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Caretaking, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Medical Inaccuracies, Multi, Other, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-04-04 22:48:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4155882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ehryniewi/pseuds/dreamwriteremmy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kevin runs away from the medical area and ends up with Carlos and Cecil. Carlos gets some practice at establishing boundaries and priorities with the medical team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Okay

Carlos looks up and notices Kevin in the doorway of the parlor. The radio host is shaking most of his weight against the frame. That's no good. He wanders over and puts his hands on the radio host's shoulders. He's still cold as ice. "Kevin? Why are you up? You're supposed to be in medical where they can make you better."

"I'm not okay. Please don't make me go back there." There's a hysterical note in his voice that Carlos knows too well from Cecil. Then the radio host's legs give out on him. Carlos sighs and picks Kevin up, carrying him to the couch near the space heater Cecil is sitting in front of. 

Cecil blinks at him. "Carlos... Is this safe?"

"Cecil, he's still sick and he's panicky. Please don't make this worse. I just want to keep him warm. He's too cold."

Cecil nods. "Okay. You should probably call Ray to let her know her patient escaped."

Carlos nods, "Can he use the electric blanket now?"

Cecil shifts his weight. "Yeah. I'll do it. Wrap him up in it, right? Like I had to do for you."

Carlos nods. "Yeah. If you can get up, try to find him a hat and mittens in the closet. We need to get him to a more standard body temperature. I'm going to step out and call Ray and see what she says."

Cecil nods, grabbing his cane from near his feet and standing up slowly as he wraps the blanket around Kevin while he gets up. Then wanders over to the closet to find mittens and a hat. 

Carlos dials Ray and the feed picks up Ray with eir partner. "Hi Ray, Betony. Kevin apparently escaped medical. I have him with me and Cecil in the parlor. He's hypothermic still so Cec and I are helping with an electric blanket, a hat and mittens and the space heater. When I told him he shouldn't be up and should be in medical, he got really hysterical and insisted I didn't make him go back there. For once, he actually said he wasn't okay. It sounds like something bad happened in a medical facility in the past."

Ray sighs. "I was afraid of that. How would you feel about being one of his caretakers if I put him on home care?"

"Only if it's part time and I'm the secondary carer. I realize that he's getting an attachment to me, but this is stressing out Cec. And until Cec is okay with Kevin being here, I have to draw the line that Cec is my primary concern."

Betony beside Ray grins and signs. "Good job, Carlos. You applied boundaries."

Ray nods, "What Betony said. You're making good progress on boundaries and priorities, Carlos. We'll be down in a couple minutes. Betony and I will take him to our apartment. He's not well enough yet to be left alone if he's still not regulating his temperature."

Carlos nods, "We'll be here. I should probably go make sure neither of them try to annoy each other to death." 

Ray nods, "Okay, we'll be there soon. Hang in there." 

Carlos wanders back into the parlor. Cecil's on the floor by Kevin's feet, still within reach of the space heater. Kevin's a person burrito on the couch with only a cream colored hat and the edge of a golden scarf peeking over the top. Carlos grins as he sits down next to Cecil, reaching one hand over to make sure Kevin's getting warmer. "Good job, Cec. The scarf's a nice touch." 

"I don't know a lot about Kevin and he still scares me, but I know his favorite colors." 

Carlos nods. "Ray and Betony said they'll be down soon. They'll take care of him. They might ask me to come spend some time with him if they're busy, but I told them that you are more important, even if he's getting attached to me. I need to focus on you until you're ready to let me divide my attention." 

Cecil smiles, "Thanks Carlos." 

"I want to help, but I also know that I have made far too many mistakes with my boundaries. I love you. I need to show that more, even though it's hard for me when I want to solve everything." 

Cecil smiles, "No one's perfect, Carlos." 

"I know."


End file.
